Running out of days...

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“If you can hear the shots being fired, you’re good; because you never hear the shot that kills you.” ~SAS Security Officer, Joe Brazas.

That was a little piece of advice during our logistical pre-port for South Korea. I just figured I’d open with that to make it a little interesting. 😊 Don't worry though, the closest thing we heard to a gunshot was a big bus backfiring. It was a little scary haha, and everyone ran to their windows.

Anyway, we pulled into Korea on time, and it’s a pretty place. Sometimes, the ports look the same. Korea’s was similar to Hong Kong. A lot of tall buildings with big mountains in the background. It was nice though. While we were waiting for the ship to clear, a couple of Korean performers did a little dance and such for us outside on the dock next to the ship. It was cool for a little bit, but there were a lot of drums and it just got loud. So, after the ship cleared, we boarded on a couple buses for the city orientation. This city orientation was really short. We drove into Busan (yeah, because we aren’t docked in Busan, we are docked an hour OUTSIDE of Busan…more about that later). Then we went to South Korea’s largest fish market, and saw all the live fish and octopus and eel and such. It was kinda cool, a little gross, and smelly, but I didn’t mind that smell as much as the smells in Taiwan. It’s weird that now I can compare two different countries. Anyway, then we went to Yongdusan Park, which is a major landmark in Korea because is rises 49 meters above sea level in the middle of downtown. There was a really nice view. After that, we went to the international market, where there were just a lot of shops and such. Then we signed out of the tour so we didn’t have to go back to the ship and then go back out again since it’s so long to get to Busan.

So, that’s a complaint I have. There is NOT much to do in Busan or the port where we are docked, so I really think that semester at sea should have warned us about that so we could plan our trips accordingly, you know? For example, I really really really wanted to go to the DMZ. Like soooo bad, but I couldn’t because it’s like 5 hours away, but had I known that we would be an hour away from the actual city, and there wasn’t too much to do, jess and I would have made plans to get up to Seoul and go to the DMZ. But now I couldn’t because it was too late. So, oh well. Anyway, after we signed out we walked around to look for lunch. It was about 1PM something, so we were pretty hungry. We found a little Korean restaurant where the pictures looked appealing. They looked like big noodle dishes (key word: LOOKED). So we went in and we order the “noodle dish” to split. We ordered some dumplings first as an appetizer, and those were really good, they were filled with like meat and some kind of seafood. Oh, and they automatically give you kimch’i, which is the staple Korean food. I had some, I’ve had it before, but I wanted to try it from here. It was really spicy, but that’s the only thing I liked about it. Other than that, I’m not a huge fan. Then, our “noodle dish” came. We each piled some on our plates. Picked some up, but oh boy it was not noodles. It was just sprouts. A whole bunch of sprouts with some kind of former living things that were hard. And it was very spicy. Well, I like sprouts, but not JUST sprouts, you know. And, I’ve become a pretty adventurous eater (remember the rabbit story?), but those hard things mixed in just didn’t look right. Needless to say, we left there a bit hungry.

Let’s see…after that, we took the metro to Haendae Beach, which is the most popular beach in South Korea. It was VERY pretty, but extremely crowded. Like, so much worse than, say wildwood in July. There were umbrellas touching for miles, and you could hardly walk through if you wanted to get to the water. So we just walked around there because there were like festival things going on, but then we left after about an hour or so. Then we took the metro to the Museum of Modern Art. It cost like 4 bucks to get in, and it was so cool. There were just like a lot of cool things there, and the paintings were awesome, but you definitely have to like that kind of stuff to enjoy it. Plus, it was very nice to cool off. It has been ridiculously hot here, hotter than in Hong Kong and China, and even Vietnam. It’s so hot, but I do hear that it has been reaching 100 back home. I hope that simmers down when I get back, I’m sick of this heat!

So, Koreans do not like Americans. Well, some anyways. A couple of SAS’ers tried to get into some karaoke bar the first night, and the people wouldn’t let them. Then, some people tried to get a picture with some ‘locals’, and they asked where they were from and when they said America, the Koreans waved their hands and said “no, no”. Yeah. But it’s mostly like the younger people, not the older ones. The older ones don’t seem to bother, they just seem to stare. But we were told if we see any demonstrators to turn around and walk the other way, and not to go near them. So, a big joke with some people was that we had to pretend we were from Canada for three days.

Let’s see…the second day, we woke up and walked around the town right off the ship for a little, but it was kind of boring; however, there was a Top Mart (equivalent to WalMart), so we went in there and bought some food for the 12 days while we’re sailing home so we don’t have to put it on our accounts, since they are pretty much racked up anyway. I bought some instant coffee because the coffee on the ship sucks, and it’s Maxwell house coffee. Well, I hope it is…it’s the colors of Maxwell house, and the picture looks like it would be Maxwell House, but since hardly anything is in English, we’re hoping it’s Maxwell house. Then I got some saltines in case I get sick. Yeah, they have NO sort of cracker on the ship, just junk food and chocolate. Oh, we found these awesome coffee drinks here. They come in a little pouch (like CapriSuns but with a opening attached to drink from) and they are sooo good. They are like frozen slushie coffees, and they’re delicious.

Oh, so back to the second day…we walked to a beach nearby, Dadaepo Beach, which was really nice, but it was just incredibly hot. We rented an umbrella between the five of us so it only cost like 2000won each (US$2). We only stayed for a little over an hour because it was way too hot, and we couldn’t cool off in the water because it was incredibly dirty. After that we went back to the ship, and showered and such, and then…here’s the best part: we went to a baseball game! It was sooo much fun. We got some food from McDonald’s (because you need food that’s bad for you at a baseball game), some Hite Beer (a.k.a. the Korean Natty Ice), and just watched everything. The Koreans get so into the game, and they have all these chants and shouts and it’s just hilarious to sit there and listen because you have no clue what they were saying, but it’s so funny to watch. And they passed out these orange plastic bags that people just tie up and put on their heads or shake around, it’s hilarious. They also have the things we have in America, though, like those things you clap together and the charge thing. So, that was awesome, and especially since it’s summer AND I’m missing my beloved Phillies 😉 it was good to see. Oh, and when the game was over, they played a Bon Jovi song which was so cool. The Asians do love Bon Jovi. Then, we just headed back to the ship. This heat really takes so much out of you and makes you really tired.

The third day, we slept in since we never get to do that normally, and at noon we met for lunch on the ship (saving money). Then, we found a post office. It is way too hot here, it's annoying. I really hope that the heat wave in the US stops by the time i get back, because i can't take much more of this heat. Well, anyway, then we went to a traditional tea house, and we were served delicious tea, it was like fruity (we couldn't understand the menu, thank god what we picked turned out good), and it was chilled tea so it was very refreshing. Then, we just walked around the markets a bit more. And we came across this MLB store, where they had mannequins in the window dressed in Pittsburgh Pirates shirts, it was hilarious to see.

All in all, Korea turned out to be not-so-bad. At first, I wasn’t a fan because there wasn’t a whole lot to do, and I was extremely upset I didn’t make it up to the DMZ. However, the second day made it a whole lot better, and it really is a nice country—even though they don’t like Americans. Plus, another reason that the last couple ports may have seemed ‘eh’, is because of how awesome Vietnam was. And I know a lot of people on the ship feel this way, and the dean talked to us about how after Vietnam everything changes. Not JUST because of Vietnam, but just that the first half of the trip is just completely different from the second. And it’s so true, but I don’t think it’s something I can explain. Maybe when I get home, I will try.

Well…next stop, last stop on this side of the world: Kobe, Japan

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